A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

A federal judge sentenced a former Arkansas judge Wednesday to five years in prison — a stiffer punishment than prosecutors recommended — after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favours.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

In a 60 Minutes online exclusive, reporter Liz Hayes quizzed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his relationship with the unpredictable Twitter aficionado and US president Donald Trump ahead of their meeting at the White House Friday.

Magistrate Brendan Butler on Friday ordered the witnesses join a large group of others to be cross-examined in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in November when alleged killer Brett Peter Cowan, 42, faces the first part of his committal hearing.

Cowan has been in custody since his arrest in August last year, when he was charged with murder, child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.

Daniel, 13, vanished while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast in December 2003.

Of the 11 new witnesses to take the stand, at least one will give evidence about their experience in being hypnotised about their memory of events.

Others will give evidence relating to the identification of people they claim to have seen near Daniel around the time he disappeared.

The witnesses were the subject of an application earlier this month, where Cowan's defence team applied for an order to compel them to attend court against the crown's wishes.